Struggling with debt? Ask a debt advisor a question

Former_StepChange_Laura

Aloofdragon wrote: »

Hi I have posted on the DRO and had amazing replies, I have just received my experian pins and we have a total for our debts I am awaiting a pack for DRO off stepchange, and a phonecall off Payplan and to be honest I have gone into serios stress mode, we have a total of £13,000 ish debt £10ish is on Hubbys name £3ish on my name all on my name are defaulted but are paying back into a credit union loan on my name, there is a default of £1000 on husbands name(ran up by me), BUT I know I am in no position to evade anything happening but all debts are covered til the end of month we are living off overdraft again as we have for months now but it feels like I am stealing every penny as we are going to change bank accounts when new account comes, do we struggle on and try and get through this? or do we run for the hills and let professionals help .. I will never ever run up debts again depression is a lady dog !!!

Hi Aloofdragon,

Thanks for your message. By contacting us at StepChange you’ve taken the first steps to dealing with your debt, which is a massive achievement.

It can feel a bit daunting when you’ve finished your advice session, but you’ve set the ball rolling now and you have our support every step of the way. This page might help give you more of an idea what you can expect from the process: http://www.stepchange.org/Existingclients/DROclients.aspx

If you’d like to talk things through with someone at any point, please just get in touch. The contact phone number for our DRO team is on the link above.

Wishing you all the best!

Laura

Desperate_Deb

Hi me and my husband have take home pay of 3300 every month. However I have got deeply into debt with payday loans and everyone that my husband and I are paying about 500 in interest on these loans and have to borrow pay day loans again. Not sure where to start because if I didn't have these loans I would be able to pay money off some of the other debts I have. I'm in arrears with my mortgage and my gas and
electricity. This thread isn't great reading. I need some advise please.

Former_StepChange_Rory

Desperate_Deb wrote: »

Hi me and my husband have take home pay of 3300 every month. However I have got deeply into debt with payday loans and everyone that my husband and I are paying about 500 in interest on these loans and have to borrow pay day loans again. Not sure where to start because if I didn't have these loans I would be able to pay money off some of the other debts I have. I'm in arrears with my mortgage and my gas and
electricity. This thread isn't great reading. I need some advise please.

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.
Payday loans can be very difficult to bring back under control especially if the payments are unaffordable and you need keep borrowing to keep on top of things.

It’s important that your household bills and living cost are your first priority as falling behind with your mortgage and utilities could have a higher consequence of further action, despite what creditors might say.

If you’re struggling with your payday loans can’t afford to make the payments then you should first consider cancelling the payments. Payday loans are usually taken from your card using something called a ‘continuous payment authority’ or CPA. You can read a blogpost we wrote on cancelling CPA here.

Once you’ve cancelled the payments you can then look at your options moving forward, which is something we’ll be happy to help you with. We can put together a budget with you to make sure you can prioritise your household bills and then help find ways of dealing with the payday loans and repaying your debts at an amount that you can realistically afford.

As a charity we offer free, impartial and confidential debt advice and solutions to anyone struggling with problem debts. We offer tailored advice and there’s two ways you can get help from us.
You can use our free, anonymous online Debt Remedy tool to create a budget that we’ll use to offer practical advice and solutions to deal with all of your debts including your mortgage and utility arrears. It usually takes about 20 minutes to complete and if you get stuck you can talk to us at any time.

Alternatively you can talk to us over the phone by visiting the StepChange website for more information.

I hope this helps, we look forward to talking to you soon.

Remulos

Hi guys,

I'm currently halfway through DMP which is due to be completed 08/2015 but so many obstacles keep springing up that I'm fairly resigned to the fact that I'm going to be living with my parents until I'm 40 (I'm 23).

My question is this, if I move abroad will my credit score follow me? At the moment my noddle report is showing my credit score is 1/5 and I'm guessing that I won't be able to improve on it until my accounts aren't in default anymore and I've completed my DMP in one years time.

I will of course continue to pay into my DMP until it is completed and then I expect I will have some sort of monthly credit card usage and repayment here in the UK to slowly build my credit report. But if I can start a fresh somewhere else while I'm doing that, it would be a real light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks,
Liam

P.S. I want to move to either Germany, Korea or Japan (I'm an engineer)

j23d

Hi
I had a phone contract that I had for 2months andi broke the screen by dropping it chasing my children.. I went straight to the o2 shop where they would not help me I spoke to o2 on the phone n they would really help either.
They wanted nearly 200 to fix the screen n I could not afford it I couldn't even use the phone it was useless.. So I told them I was leaving o2 cause they was unhelpful and not very polite to speak to.
They sent my contract to Buchanan and wells who added 500 to what o2 had told me I'm guna have to pay for the closure of my contract and I can't afford to pay them off what can I do. They now want almost 1000 pound for a phone that's not even worth half that.. I even had to sell the phone to pay the first payment.

Former_StepChange_Rory

Remulos wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm currently halfway through DMP which is due to be completed 08/2015 but so many obstacles keep springing up that I'm fairly resigned to the fact that I'm going to be living with my parents until I'm 40 (I'm 23).

My question is this, if I move abroad will my credit score follow me? At the moment my noddle report is showing my credit score is 1/5 and I'm guessing that I won't be able to improve on it until my accounts aren't in default anymore and I've completed my DMP in one years time.

I will of course continue to pay into my DMP until it is completed and then I expect I will have some sort of monthly credit card usage and repayment here in the UK to slowly build my credit report. But if I can start a fresh somewhere else while I'm doing that, it would be a real light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks,
Liam

P.S. I want to move to either Germany, Korea or Japan (I'm an engineer)

Hi Liam,

Welcome to the forum,

It’s unlikely that your debts will follow you abroad as each country generally has its own credit scoring system and different debt laws.

It’s important to remember that your UK credit score will still exist though, but you’ve mentioned that you’re continuing to make payments to your DMP until your debts are cleared anyway.

Once your DMP has finished you can start looking at ways of improving your credit score, remember that nothing shows on your credit file permanently so it’s sometimes just a matter of time.

We wrote a blogpost about DMPs and credit ratings which might give you some insight into what to expect and how to improve your credit file.

I hope this helps, all the best if you decide to move abroad!

Rory

StepChange_Private_Messages

j23d wrote: »

Hi
I had a phone contract that I had for 2months andi broke the screen by dropping it chasing my children.. I went straight to the o2 shop where they would not help me I spoke to o2 on the phone n they would really help either.
They wanted nearly 200 to fix the screen n I could not afford it I couldn't even use the phone it was useless.. So I told them I was leaving o2 cause they was unhelpful and not very polite to speak to.
They sent my contract to Buchanan and wells who added 500 to what o2 had told me I'm guna have to pay for the closure of my contract and I can't afford to pay them off what can I do. They now want almost 1000 pound for a phone that's not even worth half that.. I even had to sell the phone to pay the first payment.

Hi there,

Thanks for posting today.

Often when a phone contract is terminated before the agreed end date the provider will charge a cancellation fee plus what you owe from the remainder of the contract. Of course, this will depend on what was in your original contract, but if these amounts are not paid O2 could also be within their rights to add fees and charges.

Unfortunately, we would not be able to advise on how to handle a dispute like this. The Communications ombudsman service, which O2 belongs to, may be the best organisation to speak to. You can find information about the ombudsman service and how to complain here: http://www.ombudsman-services.org/communications.html

However if you feel you will struggle to pay this debt, then that is certainly something we can help you with.

For free advice, you can give our helpline a call on 0800 138 1111. It’s open from Monday to Friday from 8am until 8pm and Saturdays from 8am until 4pm, and is free to call from landlines and most mobiles.

One of our friendly advisors would be able to talk through your financial situation with you in more depth, work out a budget and determine what is the best way forward for you to deal with your debt.

If you’d prefer to do this online, you could use our Debt Remedy tool:

http://www.stepchange.org/debtremedy.aspx

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Rachel

strawberryblonde

Hi

My husband and I are currently 2 years in to a DMP. Everything is going well and we are managing the payments without any problem.
Currently, we have £100 spare each month to pay our creditors. Our debts are very large-they currently stand at £61, 500. We realise that repaying at the current rate means that our debts will never be cleared but neither of us wishes to go down the bankruptcy or IVa routes.
My husband may soon be changing his job which will mean that his basic salary will increase. I am also due to have an increase in my working hours soon which will mean my salary will increase. My husband also has the chance to earn commission but obviously there is no guarantee with it. I understand that it is not a good idea to offer to make extra payments on a DMP as the creditors will then start to chase for more money. At the same time, i do not wish to committ extra regularly to a DMP in case the commission is not forthcoming. Can someone please advise what I can do in this situation? I have thought that perhaps saving extra money to build into a fund to offer for a !!!!!! might be an option but would I be Ok to do this?

Riverview8

Hello, I have been in discussions with SC re starting a DMP. Currently in the process of setting up new account & transferring salary to it. This is taking a while as employer US based & has to go through US HR.
In the meantime I have been contacting creditors as per advice. However one of my biggest loans is with Smile, whom I also bank & have my overdraft with. Salary will be going into it for at least one more payday. The advice from SC was not to inform them of DMP yet. I am due to make a payment to them on the 19th but will not have funds to make full payment due to a domestic issue. The STO goes on the 19th, I get paid on 28th(will be 26th this month due to 28th being weekend) I have asked to move STO to 28th in the past but should I just amend the STO in this instance to 26th & explain that I need to change the payment date? I can call them or send a secure message. I want to be able to pay this time & as your SC colleague said don't tell them re DMP until new acct has salary going in.
Any advice much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

mum2one

Riverview8 wrote: »

Hello, I have been in discussions with SC re starting a DMP.

it was the best decision I made going with sc, so your be in safe hands

Currently in the process of setting up new account & transferring salary to it. This is taking a while as employer US based & has to go through US HR.

hopefully your get that sorted soon
In the meantime I have been contacting creditors as per advice. However one of my biggest loans is with Smile, whom I also bank & have my overdraft with.
Salary will be going into it for at least one more payday. The advice from SC was not to inform them of DMP yet. I am due to make a payment to them on the 19th but will not have funds to make full payment due to a domestic issue. The STO goes on the 19th, I get paid on 28th(will be 26th this month due to 28th being weekend) I have asked to move STO to 28th in the past but should I just amend the STO in this instance to 26th & explain that I need to change the payment date? I can call them or send a secure message. I want to be able to pay this time & as your SC colleague said don't tell them re DMP until new acct has salary going in.
Any advice much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

If it was me then I would change the sto to the 28th, and let the bank know, just say its due to the wages being paid and the issues, as I sure they wont mind waitin a few days if there going to get full payment.

It sounds that your really organised with everything, have you opened the new account yet?

xx